I tried to post the photos, but the file sizes were too large. In other news, last night was kind of a "bad" night for me. Party with friends. But considering the lack of drinking I've done the previous week, not to mention the total adherence I managed to achieve outside of that one night, I don't feel too bad about it.

I wanted to thank Craig for a piece of advice he gave on a podcast a while ago: identify the areas where your nutrition really collapses and avoid that situation. I realized that my Christmas Break's overeating was precipitated more by ALWAYS BEING NEAR A KITCHEN than it was by actual meals. I sat down and went through my beak on a daily basis, tabulating what I actually ate for meals. It wasn't that much more than I might normally eat (the nutrition value was somewhat undesirable, lol) but combined with the constant snacking as I went through the day, I put myself over the top in calories. I realized it this morning, because I was hungry for the first morning since I started back fasting. It really is being near the food and all that. By identifying that situation, I have been able to stick to fasting this morning simply by staying away from the kitchen.

I can tell one difference from actual TT workouts, though: I gained only two or three pounds between Thanksgiving and NYE despite the indulging, which I attribute to having a better metabolism because I have added some muscle mass since last year. IN the past, I've gained between 10 and 15 pounds. In fact, it was a Christmas break five years ago that led to my negative transformation, so I consider this past one a rousing success, and a step toward my goal of finding my old body.

I tried to post the photos, but the file sizes were too large. In other news, last night was kind of a "bad" night for me. Party with friends. But considering the lack of drinking I've done the previous week, not to mention the total adherence I managed to achieve outside of that one night, I don't feel too bad about it.

That's good...learn from your mis-steps and move on...!

Quote:

Originally Posted by rutherfordj2

I wanted to thank Craig for a piece of advice he gave on a podcast a while ago: identify the areas where your nutrition really collapses and avoid that situation. I realized that my Christmas Break's overeating was precipitated more by ALWAYS BEING NEAR A KITCHEN than it was by actual meals. I sat down and went through my beak on a daily basis, tabulating what I actually ate for meals. It wasn't that much more than I might normally eat (the nutrition value was somewhat undesirable, lol) but combined with the constant snacking as I went through the day, I put myself over the top in calories. I realized it this morning, because I was hungry for the first morning since I started back fasting. It really is being near the food and all that. By identifying that situation, I have been able to stick to fasting this morning simply by staying away from the kitchen.

This I completely understand. I always have trouble at my in-law's house because they hang out in the kitchen all the time. I thought it was just the design of their house - the kitchen connects w/ the living room so it's easy to just hang out in the kitchen (and even if you're in the LR you're never really away from the lure of the kitchen). I realized when they visited at Christmas that they are just "kitchen people". They hang out in the kitchen for extended periods of time. I'm not sure how this knowledge will help me out next time I see them, but at least I figured something out!

Hi Josh and welcome to TC10. Well done for taking the step to improve your health and fitness even though you're aware of challenges that you'll face with your living and family situation. That's exactly the right mentality needed to succeed. It seems you're already quite fit from the types of workouts you're doing so hopefully you'll just need some "fine-tuning" to get into the swing of things and "carve out the fat", as you put it.

I need to update my workouts, but I keep leaving my folder in the car. It's below 30 degrees and there's a couple inches of snow on the ground. When you have lived in middle Tennessee for most of your life, that means STAY INSIDE.

I overcame another obstacle today: my father-in-law cooked a "big country breakfast" (potatoes, ham, biscuits, gravy, jam, lard, fat, sugar-out-the-@$$). When I smelled it (I was upstairs, we live with the in-laws as we complete our new house), I grabbed Keli (my wife) and said, "I know that's a big breakfast down there. You know I resisted Sunday School pizza yesterday morning. You know I went through an entire Saturday without breaking down and eating. You know when I set my mind to something I'll do it. Just go down to breakfast and tell everyone I've locked myself in the room to write. Do not mention fasting, I don't want to hear about how a good country breakfast should never be missed."

And... it worked. I've always been the kind of person who gives in to temptation on a lot of things, until the instant I decide to change. After that, only an act of God or a loaded gun will alter the plan. My real struggle was not with skipping the "country breakfast" (I'm not a huge fan of fried ham, biscuits are great but not worth the calories, and so on), but with the questions, etc. that would come when everyone asked why I was "starving myself". Keli (my wife) understands, because she knows (a) I obsessively research everything I do, buy, or think; and, (b) I only commit to things I have thought about, weighed out, and decided upon after several months of focus and preparation. Everyone else just thinks I'm a loon, I guess, although they're not "unsupportive". It's more like the whole fasting concept goes against everything they've ever heard and they're concerned. I live in a small, southern town. It has TWO stoplights (they are within 50 feet of each other) that were installed in the 1950s. Progress comes here about 100 years after it strikes elsewhere!

On a positive note, we have a "snow day" today. You'd be surprised how little snow (1") will close schools down in this area! Luckily, I worked out yesterday, so my "fun activity" today will be trudging up and sledding down the hill on the farm (which will burn some calories and get me some exercise). I'm not too worried about making it to my "goal time" (4 PM, I started fasting at 9:30 PM last night) now that I survived the "big country breakfast". If I keep downing water, I doubt I'll think about it again.

Another positive note: moving to a small town has definitely helped with the "eating out" syndrome. It was SO easy when we lived in a city. Now, there's one small Mexican restaurant (Thursday nights, Keli and I split the Nachos with chicken and vegetables- I eat the chicken and vegetables only), plus a couple of pizza joints (they both only serve thin crust pizza, although I don't think pizza itself can really be super healthy and filling unless you cook it yourself). We've probably saved about $300 per month with the change in our eating habits.

I started Week 2 of Resistance Evil yesterday (I'll update the numbers later, when I actually have my notebook with me). When I started, my goal was to follow the prescribed rest periods between sets, but also to use that same rest period between circuits. I managed to make it. If there was any "extra rest", it was only because I was reaching for a weight or something like that. I got one hell of a workout, though, in something like 30 minutes.

I'm going to try updating with random/general thoughts and experiences only a daily basis, and then doing a weekly summation that has the workouts, nutrition, etc.

NUTRITION

I did an ESE fast from Sunday (1/2/11) 2 PM to Monday (1/3/11) 6 PM (schedule caused this, but as always, after the 16-hour mark, it was very easy- as I've mentioned in previous posts, I get a kind of high at that point). I followed an 18-20 hour fast the rest of the week. The only exception was Saturday (1/8/11) 8 PM to Sunday (1/9/11) 1 PM (17-hour fast). I don't know if I'll do an ESE fast this week- it depends on if/when we get back to school. The girls (4.75 year old twins) are adamant that I eat dinner with them, and night-to-night fasts are really difficult for me (I have NO clue why!), so I may stick to the LG fasted training method all seven days.

I did make a huge bowl of my vegetable mash-up (I put it in the Recipe forum, although I don't claim it as a true recipe and I don't think I invented it) for the week. I usually eat several spoonfuls of that at night, rather than snack or eat cake. It fills me up and is not calorie dense, because it's sauteed vegetables with a little olive oil thrown in.

WORKOUTS
* I always treat the first week of a program as a time for experimenting so that I can set goals for myself. For example, after doing Workout A, I decided to record the time it took (36 minutes) and see if I could beat it the next time around.

* I don't have access to Kettlebells. I do have access to a quality workout facility (high school weight room) that is empty when I use it.

* I substituted a true BB Snatch for the KB Snatch, because I love the old school, power exercises, and I've had formal training in technique with them. On a side note, if you have someone in your area (a university strength coach, a CrossFit certified coach, or a personal trainer with certification) who can teach you to do the power movements, I truly recommend you spend the money.

I started out with low weight for the Snatch because the program called for high reps, and because it's been a while since I have done them- I wanted to make sure my form was good.

I hope so. I can say that I am way better off at this point this year than I was at this point last year. And I think I'm even better off than I was in August 2010 when I first started to use fasting and dropped about 15 pounds (I gained about five pounds over the break). But the first couple weeks are always the ones that require the most faith, because I'm wanting to see that breakthrough moment after which I'll know that my nutrition and exercise are where they need to be.

Thanks for the support!

Quote:

Originally Posted by weetamclan

Great stuff passing up the big cooked breakfast. I think with all your thought and planning you'll have a really successful contest!

I didn't go to sleep until midnight last night. The BCS National Championship game was last night and it didn't end until eleven or so. For those of you not from America, that's our national championship game for college football. It's a big deal, especially in the southeastern US.

Anyway, I woke up about 7 AM, but forced myself back to sleep because I knew the workout today was going to be killed. I'm glad I did. I had a fantastic workout (Resistance Evil Workout B Week 2, will be updated on Friday along with the rest of the workouts for the week). My fast technically started at 11 PM last night. I considered doing an ESE fast, but that would throw off my schedule, because I wouldn't eat until tomorrow morning (and then I'm afraid I would eat all day). So, my current plan is to stay with the 16-18 hour fasting, then do at least one ESE fast, maybe Wednesday or Thursday.

I did get my bodyfat measured today: 18%. I think that's a little low, to be honest. I'd put myself in the 20-22% range. If I knew how t get Craig a copy of the pics, I would send them to him and let him see if he think I'm right. Anyway, my weight today was 195, but I think I'm usually around 193 these days. My goal is 180. I started at about 197 or so.

I also went sledding with the girls, my wife, and her brother and his wife. I made a point to run back up the hill, so I think I got in some pretty tough hill sprints, too (8-10, I think). Anyway, it's cold as hell here, and it looks like we'll be out of school again tomorrow... gotta love the South's attitude toward snow: cheaper to wait it out than fight it!

Well done on passing the "big breakfast". I like the way you handled it by staying clear of the whole situation as opposed to trying to "get out of it"...good lesson to be learned there for the rest of us.